Assange: Extradition hearings, Spanish connection¿

The extradition hearings began last week in London for the co-founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, with lawyers for the defense and prosecution presenting their cases. Assange was held in the "dock", a glass cage at the back of the court, separating him from his legal counsel. He has been imprisoned at Belmarsh jail since British police removed him from the Ecuadoran embassy in April. The treatment to which Assange has been subjected in prison and in court raises serious human rights issues, while Assange's health after seven years has deteriorated. Not long before the extradition hearings began in London, Spain's High Court opened its investigation of the illegal surveillance of Assange by a Spanish security company that allegedly delivered its recordings of Assange's every move, including his meetings with doctors and his lawyers, to US authorities.